| Public Protection Committee | Item No. | |-----------------------------|---------| | 14 October 2003 | |

| Report of Borough Solicitor | Title of Report | |-----------------------------|-----------------| | Directorate: | Application for the renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence The Adult Shop 178 Wellingborough Road Northampton | | Chief Executive and Town Clerk | | | Author/Contact Officer: | | | Mrs Dee Knapp Solicitor Borough Solicitors Legal Section 01604 837837 ext 7336 | | | Mr P Bayliss Licensing Enforcement Officer Tel: 01604 837837 ext 7099 | |

| Recommendations | |-----------------| | That the application be considered. |

**The Application** Application has been made by Mr Liam McCann of 140 Ashington Grove Coventry West Midlands.

For the renewal of this Licence.

The application fee of £1000.00 has been paid.

A report is awaited from the Police.

Notices of this application have been published in a local newspaper. Background

1. The Law

Where a district Council has adopted Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, (which Northampton Borough Council has), then any person wishing to use premises as a “sex establishment”, requires a licence to do so.

The Act specifies the form of any application and that notice of the application for a grant, renewal or transfer must be given in the local press and publicly displayed for 21 days. Any person may object to the application in writing to the local authority within 28 days of the application. The local authority is required to inform the applicant in general terms of the grounds of the objections.

The local authority is also required to have regard to the observations of the police.

The Act provides that an applicant shall be given the opportunity of presenting his application before the committee when the matter is determined. If objectors attend, and wish to speak, whether they are allowed to do so is entirely in the Committee’s discretion. Members must bear in mind however that if any objectors raise any matters not disclosed by their objection, the applicant may be entitled to have the hearing adjourned to consider the points raised.

It must be emphasised that the local authority’s duty is to carefully consider an application on its merits.

There are various grounds on which an application must be refused. To précis;

(a) That the application is unsuitable to hold a licence by reason of having been convicted of an offence or for any other reason.

(b) That if the licence were granted the business would be managed by or carried on for the benefit of a person other than the applicant, who would be refused the grant if he himself applied.

(c) That the number of sex establishments in the relevant locality at the time the application is made is equal to or exceeds the number which the authority consider is appropriate.

(d) That the grant of the licence would be inappropriate having regard to the character of the relevant locality, the use to which any premises in the vicinity are put or to the layout character or condition of the premises.

If the Committee is not reasonably satisfied that one or more of the above criteria are relevant to the application, its duty is to grant the licence. The legal requirement is that Members should, as far as possible, take into account only information available to them which is relevant in deciding whether or not the above criteria apply to each particular application and ignore any religious, moral or social viewpoints they may hold about sex shops generally.

2. **Suitability of Applicant and Location of Premises** The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 enables the Council to control the suitability of an individual applicant, the location of the premises and the number of premises in a defined locality, the appearance of the shop and the shop front, the level of fee and the hours of opening.

A licensing authority can adopt reasonable policy guidelines to help it determine applications for sex shop licences, in particular that it would be inappropriate to site sex shops in certain specified historically important streets or near schools, shopping complexes or in residential areas.

Councillors can to some extent use their own subjective local knowledge in deciding which factors are relevant in the character of the locality.

3. **Planning Implications** In planning terms the definition of a shop is an establishment for sales or services to visiting members of the public. With the exception of motor vehicles, types of goods for sale are not a planning consideration.

As with all shops the display of their advertisements can only be controlled if they are above a particular size or height or are illuminated.

Shop window displays are not normally controlled and no provision exists to control the goods for sale on these premises. Generally speaking, an advertisement requiring consent would be viewed in terms of its style and design, giving regard to the building and the street scene rather than its particular wording or content.

4. **The Council’s Present Policy on the Number of Licensed Sex Establishments in the Borough of Northampton** On 28 May 1998 the Licensing Committee resolved that the appropriate number of sex establishments in the relevant locality known as the Wellingborough Road (being the area bounded by and including Wellingborough Road, Kettering Road and Abington Avenue) is three.

On 17 December 1998 the Licensing Committee resolved that the appropriate number of sex establishments within the locality known as Northampton town centre (being the area bounded by and including Victoria Promenade, Cheyne Walk, York Road, Lower Mounts, Lady’s Lane, Mayorhold, Horsemarket, Horseshoe Street, Gas Street and St Peters Way) was nil.

The Council presently has no policy on the number of sex establishments to be licensed in the whole borough of Northampton. The Act was designed to allow local authorities to have a certain degree of control over such premises whilst at the same time allowing the general public scope to comment. There have been no complaints of any time received during the last twelve months.

**Author and Contact Officer**

Mrs Dee Knapp, Borough Solicitor, Legal Section Tel 01604 837837 x 7336\
Mr P Bayliss, Licensing Enforcement Officer Tel 01604 837837 x 7099